TOURISM BUREAU ASKS THAT CITY BUILD NEW OFFICES

Cape Girardeau's Convention and Visitors Bureau wants new offices, but Mayor Al Spradling III doesn't think the City Council should rush ahead with plans to build a $250,000 building for the CVB.

Mary Miller, director of the CVB, sent a letter to council members last week expressing a desire to move ahead with the project.

The budget has earmarked money for the project, but Spradling said Monday the council will have to approve any design work before the project can proceed.

City Manager Michael Miller said the city has requested proposals from local architects.

"We are in the very preliminary stages of it," said the city manager.

Current plans call for construction of a 3,000-square-foot building in Osage Park. It would complement the Osage Park community center that soon will be under construction.

Motel and restaurant tax money would be used to fund the project.

John Richbourg, finance director, said there is enough tax revenue to fund the CVB building as well as the Osage Park community center and Shawnee Park sports complex.

Motel and restaurant tax revenue goes into the CVB Fund. The city finished the 1995 fiscal year June 30 with a $362,000 cash balance in the fund, $124,000 above projections, Richbourg said.

But Spradling wants the city to first move ahead with the Osage Park community center and Shawnee Park sports complex. The council last week awarded a $4 million construction contract for the two projects.

Including site work that already has been completed, those two projects will cost about $5.3 million, about $1.1 million more than originally budgeted from motel and restaurant taxes.

Spradling agreed there is a need for new offices for the CVB. But he said, "I don't know if it is appropriate right now. Because of the funding situation, we need to sit back and take a look at this."

Spradling added, "It isn't something we need to do immediately."

But Bob Hoppmann, CVB advisory board chairman, said his board wants the building under construction next year so it can be completed in conjunction with the community center.

New offices would give the CVB greater visibility with local residents and tourists and allow it to use the Osage Park community center as a visitors' center, Hoppmann said.

Bus tours could stop at the park at the corner of Mount Auburn and Kingshighway and the passengers could use the community center restrooms.

Currently, the Show Me Center is regularly used as a restroom stop for bus tours, Hoppmann said.

The CVB rents space in an office building on Mount Auburn Road, across from Osage Park. Hoppmann said the CVB pays about $1,000 a month to rent the office space.

Initial plans a few years ago called for including CVB offices in the community center.

But that office space was deleted from the plans for cost reasons and because CVB officials wanted a separate building.

Hoppmann said the CVB staff could operate better in a separate building. He said the CVB needs office space for itself and for the city's public awareness office.